The Tale of Six Jumps
by Maygin
Summary: Summary: Five had never attempted a jump like this; it was insane to try but what'd he have to lose? This is the tale of the first six jumps the Hargreeves children made as a family. Some jumps were better than others, and one would only be remembered as 'the bad jump'. [some Klaus whump and good ole sibling love]
1. Chapter 1

The Tale of Six Jumps

By: Maygin

Summary: Five had never attempted a jump like this; it was insane to try but what'd he have to lose? This is the tale of the first six jumps the Hargreeves children made as a family. Some jumps were better than others, and one would only be remembered as 'the bad jump'. [some Klaus whump and good ole sibling love]

Alpha Jump

The first jump was difficult; like newborn foals attempting to take their first steps, they stumbled out of the jump in new limbs, new muscles, new organs, new brain chemistry...it was no wonder they spewed out of the vortex like vomit from a newborn.

All except Five, of course. The only reason he'd stumbled at all was from the momentum of his siblings grips being ripped from his hands as they fell to the ground, every last one of them. Though their bodies were not necessarily new, they hadn't had them in ten years or more. All things said, it was a miracle they hadn't pissed themselves...thirteen year old bladders.

Luther, Diego, Alison and Ben were all vomiting in different directions. Five cringed, his nose twitching at the smell that would no doubt follow while Krause, his body more acclimated to 'trips' so to speak and having already done two jumps previously with the ill-fated briefcase, simply remained lying flat on the ground, hands pressed to his face.

Vanya was the only one to not notice any of the after-effects of the unstable jump as she lay beneath the hunched over Luther, still passed out and oblivious to the vomit splatters that speckled against her navy academy uniform and pale cheek.

Five smirked at the lot of them, hands slipping into his pockets. "Good to see you, Ben," he nodded to the newly-alive member who was quickly bowled over by Four.

Klaus tackled Ben to the ground in what Six assumed was a hug but with their newly-acclimated younger bodies, ended up in a tangle of limbs. "I'm so happy to see you," Four gushed, refusing to let go as the others started sitting up. "Look everyone, Ben's a real boy!"

Alison checked on Vanya, cleaning her up a bit as Luther and Diego both attempted to hug Ben, made difficult by Klaus who was still wrapped around his middle. Five rotated in a circle, taking in their surroundings. They'd landed in a parking lot at night.

"Where are we?" Luther's voice had lost all the deepness of his adult body and was fairly high pitched and squeaky.

"When," Five corrected.

Luther rolled his eyes. "Fine, when are we?"

Five scowled at him. "Look at yourselves," he gestured. "You're what, six or seven?"

Luther looked down at himself then back up to Five, ending with a shrug.

Five signed loudly. "It's 1995 give or take a year." Idiot was mumbled but clearly heard by all as Five walked over and shook Ben's hand, ignoring the human fanny pack that was number Four. Ben seemed completely comfortable with it so who was he to judge?

Except he was number Five which meant brusque and critical were totally his thing and he'd earned the right to it. He cuffed Klaus' head with a frown. "Give him some room to breath Klaus before you smother him back into the grave."

Klaus let Ben go but stood close by, rubbing the back of his head. His brain said to be offended, but his heart was just so happy it overruled per usual.

Five started absently circling them, muttering out loud something about equations and I can do better.

"Vanya?" Allison softly called and then looked up surprised.

"You got your voice back," Diego crouched next to the girls.

"Of course she did, she's in her younger body," Five helpfully supplied in his usual abrupt, judgmental manner.

"How does that work?" Luther asked.

Five paused in his pacing, "Don't ask me questions you're not intelligent enough to understand the answers to." Pacing resumed.

Allison huffed with a smile, shaking her head at Diego as they both returned their attention to number Seven who was starting to come around.

"She's waking up," Diego announced, uncertain if he should be ready for battle or for compassion. They all crowded around, looking down on her, as Allison just calmly ran her fingers through Seven's hair, confident.

Seven's eyes slowly blinked open...brown eyes that bounced back and forth between her siblings worryingly self-conscious.

"Hey sis," Klaus waved his fingers at down at her, "Any homicidal plans to institute the fiery apocalypse that ends all life on earth?"

Luther frowned and shoved at Klaus, but as he was Luther and known for his brute strength, Klaus disappeared from view with a yelp.

That seemed to trigger her memory though as Seven suddenly drew in a sharp breath, her wide eyes welling with tears as she covered her face with both hands. Somewhere amidst the heavy sobbing was a repetitive stream of I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

Allison held her tight, whispering comforting words and love. The others almost sighed as one with relief; the reassurance that their sister was back to normal and not a murdering psychopath loosening a weight they'd unknowingly carried with them into the past.

"So what now?" Diego looked to Five.

"We fix our mistakes," Luther interjected. "We go back to the Academy and carry on as usual, only this time Vanya trains with us. Even if we have to train her ourselves."

"What about dear old daddy?" Klaus leaned casually on Ben's shoulder.

"We'll tell him the truth. You said it yourself, Klaus - Dad knew all about the apocalypse. We'll convince him his way didn't work."

"I can do better," Five announced with an enthusiastic nod. Mind made up, he pulled his hands out of his pocket and held them out.

The others stared at him. Even Vanya, tears wiped away by Allison, had calmed enough to join in the dumbfounded gaping.

Five wagged his hands impatiently which at least got Luther and Diego shuffling toward him uncertainty placing their hands in his.

"What are you doing exactly?" Diego spoke the question on everyone's mind.

"Fixing this," he supplied unhelpfully. When the others didn't move, Five sighed loudly, clearly put out. "Look you try doing quantum physics in your head times seven and see if you get it right the first time."

Allison sighed, "Five-"

"I can do better than this. I can move us forward a few years...just enough to avoid Ben's death but still put us in more sensible bodies."

Allison helped Vanya to her feet. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, you didn't even know if you could jump anyone other than yourself until a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, but I _did_." Five wasn't smug, just purely listing facts. And maybe a little smug. "Look, every time I jump, I learn a little more of the equation. Now this last jump?" He snorted loudly. "Total mind-fuck." Klaus nodded along with the sentiment. "I mean, Dolores would've lost her mind if she knew I was going to attempt jumping another person let alone seven."

"Kind of the point we're trying to make," Klaus scrunched his face.

"No one is going to take us seriously in these bodies at this age," Five said sternly, looking at each of them in turn. "Do you really want to go through the bullshit training dad had us doing at this age? It was bush league."

"He's got a point," Diego tilted his head.

"Guys," Five looked around at them, "I got us this far, trust me...I can do better."


	2. Chapter 2

Beta Jump

The second jump sucked just as much as the first but they at least were able to keep a hold of each other's hands. Green-faced and barely controlling their stomachs, they looked around at each other. They were adults again, all standing in the safe confines of the Academy's lounge area.

Five grimaced, determined. "I can do better."


	3. Chapter 3

Gamma Jump

The third jump sucked too but this time they were able to stay on their feet...all six of them.

Klaus was the first to react, spinning around wildly and yelling Ben's name until he appeared in ghost form. Klaus pressed a hand to his chest as if he'd just suffered a heart attack and his shoulders sagged with relief.

"Where's Ben?" Allison asked.

"That won't do," Five grumbled.


	4. Chapter 4

Delta Jump

"What the hell Five?" Luther coughed out after their fourth, unexpected jump. They stood on a dock made entirely of wood. A large antique ship with sails floated silently next to them, large ropes tying it off. It was eerily quiet, the lapping of water against the ship and dock the only sound in the air carried along a heavy fog.

"The last jump wasn't acceptable." Five licked his lips as he scanned their surroundings. "Equation was off."

"That's a man of war," Ben announced with awe in his voice as his eyes traveled over the ship.

"You called?" Klaus smirked but was, as usual, ignored. Vietnam, he mouthed to Vanya who looked at him quizzically.

"Does it matter?" Diego directed to Ben.

"Uh, yeah," Ben looked at them with wide eyes. "This is a battleship from the British navy. Like 1700's era?"

"What the hell Five?" Luther repeated with more fervor this time but overlapped by the rest of the group asking the same question in their own colorful way.

"Everyone shut up!" Five held his hands out. "Look at yourselves. The fact that you're even here should prove I'm getting better at this."

"Nope," Diego shook his head in frustration, "Not getting it."

"The first three jumps all I could do was transfer your consciousness to your bodies in that time. Which is why Ben didn't have a body in the last jump."

"This time we have beauty and brains," Klaus clapped his hands with excitement. "Yay."

Five was right though, they were dressed in the same clothes they'd been in when they'd narrowly escaped the end of the world in the theater. He'd figured out how to move their bodies and not just their consciousness all the while somehow aging Ben's body that he pulled from their past but threw it into the future to age it and ripped it back to them.

"What part of 1700's are you not understanding?"

"What part of quantum physics in an ever-fluctuating space time continuum do you not understand?

Diego's advancement was stopped by Luther's hand on his chest. "Guys, this isn't helping."

Five uncharacteristically didn't snap back, instead choosing to just glare back with an edge of weariness.

"I think it's safe to say we aren't going to save the world by staying in colonial times," Allison offered reasonably and held her hands out. The others circled up, joining hands. Allison looked to the shortest of them. "Your show, Five."


	5. Chapter 5

Epsilon Jump

It was the worst jump. One that would haunt them for the rest of eternity.

Broken and crumbled buildings littered the surrounding area forming mounds of debris against a yellow-grey sky that rained ash. And if they thought it had been quiet in the 1700's, it was nothing compared to the silence of the future.

"My god," Luther whispered as one by one they shook off the nausea and became aware of their surroundings.

"Oh no," Five breathed out, his hands threading through his hair in frustration. "Not again," he moaned as the familiarity of the post-apocalyptic world he'd lived most of his life in

filled his nostrils with the stench of sulfur and fire residue among many other unpleasant sharp odors.

"Is this…did I…" Vanya held a hand to her mouth, astonished at the absolute and total destruction she'd caused. Allison was immediately there with a supportive hand on her back.

It was Klaus that had the biggest reaction. He had straightened after the nausea has passed and almost immediately jerked back in surprise, tripping over his own feet and hitting the ground with a yelp.

But he didn't stop there, his head swiveling back and forth in jerky movements as he shuffled backward with wide, frightened eyes and stuttered breath.

Ben looked on with unease. "Klaus?" When Four didn't answer or even look at him, he moved, kneeling down beside him. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked softly.

Klaus was hunched over his bent knees at this point, hands wrapped around his head, hiding his face in his lap as he rocked back and forth muttering softly to himself.

"Hey," Diego crouched down next to them, gripping Four's shoulder with concern, "what's wrong with you?"

Ben shook his head a moment reading the familiar signs, he knew this position but...he froze, looked at the utter destruction surrounding them and stood. "Shit," he breathed with understanding.

"What's going on?" Allison called over, still hugging close to Seven.

Ben swallowed and took a few hurried steps toward Five. "We have to go. Jump us out of here, now," he quickly demanded.

"Hey!" Luther yelled with frustration and then enunciated slowly, "What is the problem?"

Ben whirled on him. "We just jumped to the apocalypse, Luther! Where every living thing on earth was just burned alive."

"Yeah, I know. The very thing we're trying to prevent"

Ben's lip curled. "A world now full of 7.5 billion corpses! And we just dumped Klaus in the middle of it," he pointed back at Four who was now shaking his head a bit as Diego worriedly rubbed small circles into his back.

"Oh Klaus," Allison said softly, her chin puckered in sympathy.

"Take us back, Five," Ben demanded once more.

"I can't." It was said so simply and yet with such self-recrimination it caught them all off guard.

"What do you mean you can't?" Ben snarled as he advanced on Five. Luther, once more was the wall of resistance as he held Six back with just his hand.

"I'm out of juice," Five explained guiltily. "I'm gonna need time to recharge."

"How long will that take?" Ben asked, distraught.

"As long as it takes," Five bit back.

"Hey ass-hats!" Diego finally had their attention. He was still crouched next to Four but no longer holding him. Klaus was twitching and unexpectedly scrambled backward crying out don't touch me!

"Klaus, don't look at them," Ben stressed more than encouraged as he made his way back over to him, "Don't let them know you can see them." But he already knew it was too late.

Klaus suddenly flinched violently and threw his hands over his ears with a strangled cry. "No, nonononononono stop," he begged as he did his best to bury his head in Diego's lap. "Make it stop."

"What the hell?" Diego breathed, completely at a loss.

"Klaus," Luther sighed and tried to reason, "It's just ghosts, they can't hurt you."

"Don't talk about shit you know nothing about," Ben spat back at him. They were all surprised, even though they weren't used to seeing their dead brother again, they still remembered the sweet, shy child he used to be. He simply didn't have a harsh or mean bone within him...homicidal monsters from another dimension beneath his skin, sure, but not emotional angry outbursts...wasn't really Ben's thing.

Luther looked guilty over toward Allison, Vanya and Five who simply observed with his hands in his pockets. "What? They can't hurt him," he repeated softer this time in defense.

"Obviously they are," Vanya spoke up quietly and walked over toward the huddled threesome.

"Don't touch me," Four jerked his shoulder and pressed further into Diego's lap.

"Whoa, did you see that?" Diego looked wide eyed up at Ben who reflected his concern. "His jacket just moved like something was tugging on it."

"We need to go," Ben urged and helped Diego uncurl Klaus into a somewhat hunched over, somewhat standing position. "Somewhere closed off, not so open."

"I know a place we can go," Five announced, feeling useful once more. He moved to the front and started quickly leading his siblings through the rubble. Four was at least able to keep one stumbling foot in front of the other as he stared down at the ground and kept his hands firmly pressed over his ears, whimpering here and there at what, was anyone's guess.

Ben knew, he'd heard them - the dead...the ear piercing and soul wrenching howls that would erupt from dislodged jaws and made your insides curl in on themselves. A couple times when Klaus had been sober enough pull Ben but not enough to shield him from the others, he'd heard their anguish wails when they had emotion-filled surges. And Four shielded him quickly and fluidly without even a thought toward it, that was the amazing thing. Ben had known for years the potential that lie within his best friend and brother, if only he could get him sober enough, long enough to prove it to him.

Five climbed over a pile of concrete and rebar and then led them down a tunnel of sorts made by two buildings that had fallen over into one another and now precariously awaited the slow pull of gravity.

Their hurried footsteps were the only sounds echoing off the walls among the desolation aside from the harsh and stuttered breaths Klaus gasped out at times or when he'd stumble over his own feet and Diego and Ben were there righting him with their hands under his bent arms and on his back.

They weren't expecting him to be ripped from their grip though as Klaus was suddenly jerked backward. He landed hard on his back with wide, fearful eyes bouncing around wildly as he scrambled and fought against the air.

"Klaus!" Ben was there in no time, trying to pull him up, Diego following shortly after. "Get up," he gritted his teeth as they both pulled with all their might but Klaus was still being dragged backward. Klaus was lost in panic as he twisted and jerked, screaming in terror.

"Luther!" Diego yelled, feeling himself falling into panic alongside him.

Luther sighed, still not understanding gravity of the situation; if he couldn't punch it, it couldn't hurt him. But he backtracked toward them again with a grimace set firmly in place. He none too gently pushed Two and Six aside and reached for the squirming and hysterical Four. He pulled...and was met with resistance. His eyes widened suddenly as Klaus was once more jerked backward out of his grip.

That spurred him on. He grabbed at his brother again and wrapped his big arms around him and pulled back with all his strength. Klaus curled into a ball as best he could in Luther's arms, the smaller the target, the harder to reach him.

"Go go go!" Luther yelled as they all turned and started booking it after Five who resumed his search for the 'safe place'. Luther was huffing loudly, it was like trying to run through tar as something or something's kept pulling them backward. He could feel his brother shaking and crying hoarsely as he still tried to block out whatever was assaulting his ears.

Suddenly Luther felt a shift in the atmosphere. Soft, blue light glowed from where his brother was buried against his chest. And then something happened that the siblings would later refer to as 'the thing' as giving it a real name gave it substance and made it more real and more terrifying and memorable than any of them ever wanted to remember.

Glowing figures started appearing all around them, much like Ben had back at the theater. Only these figures were not their brother and could hardly be defined as human anymore. Hundreds of dead suddenly appeared in blue light surrounding them; melted faces, burnt skin, broken bones jutting through as sharp shards, bodies split in half, missing and grotesque limbs and wounds...disfigured and terrifying corpses all clambering after them.

And that wasn't even the worst of it. The howling rage that emitted from their disfigured mouths was all-encompassing and felt like the world was going to shatter by the soul-sucking shrill of it. The siblings all threw their hands over their ears and stumbled closer together in fear and pain at the assault on their ears and the surrounding horrors. All but Luther, whose face was twisted in torture, but refused to let go of the writing form in his arms.

"No," he growled as he pushed forward through the grabbing blue hands that he could now feel against his own clothing and skin. The corpses climbed over one another with their broken, melted and bloody limbs, trying to reach the one person on the planet that they thought could save them. "You can't have him," Luther put all his strength into his forward movement, wrapping his arms tighter around his brother and somehow broke free.

He ran as best he could past the others who seemed to latch onto the one sibling that seemed to have the right idea. As one, the siblings started moving again, ducking and dodging the screaming blue corpses that trailed after.

"Keep moving!" Luther called back uselessly, their voices were like pin drops amid an explosion; none of them could hear their own voices much less each other. They just moved and helped each other along. They reached the end of the tunnel and as one came to a sudden, grinding halt.

The once vibrant and expansive city opened up around them, broken and collapsed...thousands of glowing blue corpses roamed the destruction. It was overwhelming and all together terrifying.

"Oh my god," Vanya whispered in horrified awe. There was nowhere to go. They could never get through the masses of wandering, wailing dead without drawing attention. They backed into the shadow of the tunnel again as the swarm behind them caught up once more. Without thought, the siblings huddled together at the approaching onslaught.

Suddenly they blinked and the world around them shifted. They tumbled to the ground and immediately their heads darted about, examining their new surrounding like frightened animals. Even Five slumped to his knees, looking worn but counted seven of them and none of the dead which was all that mattered.

They were no longer outside but safely ensconced within a small room that was equally covered in dust and bits of concrete and ceiling tile. The windows had been shattered and were gone or melted and the walls looked crumbled and ready to collapse should a strong wind blow through with light spilling through the cracks and mixing with the dust into a haze. However, it was blessedly empty but for the seven of them.

"What happened?" Diego gasped as he pushed to his feet, surprised he could even hear his own voice, muted and strained as it may have sounded.

Five drew in a few more deep, calming breaths before answering. "I micro-jumped us to a safe spot," he said hoarsely.

Luther, also trying to catch his breath, sent him an incredulous look. "You couldn't have done that earlier?!"

"Enjoy the silence while it lasts, because that was well and truly the last of my juice. It'll take me days to recharge at this point."

Ben crawled over some rubble to where his despondent brother sat, leaned back against one of the crumbling walls, knees pulled up to his chest and arms wrapped around them loosely. The blue glow of his power manifested was gone. He was covered in scratches and bruises, his clothing torn and shredded in some areas, he had a small trail of blood slowly dripping down his face as he sat surprisingly still, staring forward with empty, exhausted eyes.

Ben could see the small tremors though that still coursed through his brother's thin frame. Klaus looked completely wrecked and traumatized and it brought a heat to Ben's eyes that he couldn't hold back as he gently reached forward and ran a hand over his brother's head. "Klaus?" he called softly, already feeling the hot tears sliding down his own cheeks as his brother didn't acknowledge him, completely checked out or caught in some waking nightmare.

"How did you know they wouldn't be here?" Allison asked numbly. No one needed clarification on who they were.

"It's a dental office," Five shrugged as if that explained everything. "Everyone hates going to the dentist."

"How's he doing?" Diego asked softly as he knelt down on Four's other side.

"Not good," Ben simply stated, still petting his brother's hair in what he hoped was comforting.

"What do we do?" Diego gently prodded a particularly nasty looking scratch on Four's neck, it wasn't going to kill him by any means, but it definitely looked like it hurt. When Ben looked equally lost, Diego reached forward and gripped Klaus' chin, redirecting his brother's gaze toward him. "Hey buddy, you with us?"

It was immediately apparent he was not, Four's hopeless sea-green eyes looked straight through him, as if he didn't even exist.

"I thought they couldn't touch him," Allison sat heavily on a broken piece of concrete.

"Well if you hadn't noticed," Ben's voice had an edge of resentment to it, "Klaus has been sober the last few days. He's clean." He sighed as he wearily leant his shoulder against the same wall as his brother, listening to the tiny stuttered breaths escaping his brother's split lip.

"His power woke up," Five nodded.

Klaus, still unseeing, suddenly flinched and brought his hands up to his ears again. His face, covered in dust and tear tracks cringed, his makeup smudged eyes pinched in agony. "No, nonononoooo," he whined quietly.

"He can still hear them," Ben sniffed and wiped at his own face. "They won't stop now that they know he's here."

"What do we do?" Diego asked again with more fervor.

"I don't know," Ben snapped back. "There's nothing we can do. Why the hell else do you think he drowned himself in drugs?" Ben sighed defeated. "Granted it was never like this...this is...I can't even imagine."

"We don't really have to, do we?" Allison's voice quaked, her own frightened eyes filled with a sheen.

"No wonder he always carried headphones with him," Diego sympathized.

They all sat silently, exhausted and forlorn as they listened to the small whimpers and gasps that Klaus couldn't contain as he rocked, hands a solid wall against his ears. It was Vanya that was the first move. Her small frame crouching down in front of her brother. Her brown, heart-broken eyes looked into shadowed and tortured green ones.

She moved to the side, shifting into Diego's spot who got up without question. Hesitantly and without entirely knowing what she was doing, she slowly reached a hand forward and rested it against brother's chest. Her eyes slipped closed as she felt the rapid beat of his heart, the rhythm thumped against her fingers and against her mind. She took slow breaths and hummed softly, the lullaby coursing through her being, vibrating her senses until it was fluid and it spread through her hand.

Her eyes opened a bit and she could see her brother release a stuttered breath, relief washing over him as fresh tears welled and burned a new path down his dirt-smeared cheeks. She could feel the tempo of his heart match the tempo of her humming, of her song...of her. It filled both of them, overwhelming all senses as they floated adrift within the melody.

Klaus drew in a deep breath, as if tasting the sweet freshness of air for the first time in forever after drowning for hours. His head rested back against the stone wall, his hands loosening from his ears and falling to his side as he continued to stare unseeing, tiny tremors still coursing through him but slowing the more he fell into Vanya's humming. It was a different kind of drowning altogether - one of warmth and love and full-body vibrations as if he were a bass string being plucked, it was overwhelmingly numbing and better than any high he'd ever fallen into.

The others observed silently, exhausted and spent. The worst of it seemed to have passed but none of them were disillusioned enough to forget they were stuck in this hell-hole for another few days, no food, no water.

"Should we really be letting her do this?" Luther asked quietly, torn between interrupting the only thing bringing his brother any peace and stopping what could potentially be another homicidal lack of control.

"What's she gonna do?" Five frowned from across the room where he lay against a fallen piece of ceiling tile. "Destroy the world?"

It was ridiculous, the entire situation. Allison was the first to snort, Diego a close second and soon five out of seven of the siblings were snickering quietly. Klaus and Vanya remained oblivious to anything around them, hearing only that of Vanya's soft humming.

"So now what?" Diego got comfortable, stretching his legs out stiffly.

"Should only take a couple days," Five's eyes were closed. "It's almost dark. We should just sleep for now. Tomorrow you and Luther can go into town and scrounge around for food or water.

"What about the...ghosts?" Luther hesitated, there wasn't a better word but it seemed so unworthy, so lacking as to what they'd truly seen and experienced.

"They don't care about you," Ben spoke up, shifting into a more comfortable position himself, shoulder to shoulder with Four. "Unless you're Klaus or the reason for their death, they won't even see you."

"So Vanya should definitely stay here," Allison nearly whispered to try and spare her sister.

"You too," Luther said with sad eyes. "Klaus needs Vanya, but Vanya needs her sister."

"She needs all of us," Allison said with quiet confidence.

"It's true," Five stared at the broken ceiling. "We're stronger as a family." He spoke almost absent-minded. "Why else do you think I came back for you?"

It was the last thing spoken that night aside from Vanya's humming which had somehow, amazingly, lasted through till morning.

Three days they spent in that hell-hole.

As they circled up, after three days of re-charging, in their crumbling little safe haven, exhausted, spent and starving, they knew whatever they faced next would always be infinitely a step up than the time they'd spent at the end of everything.


	6. Chapter 6

Zeta Jump

The drop this time would've been the same as the others were they not so exhausted and frayed. That being said, appearing in the lounge of their childhood home brought immense relief to all seven of the siblings. They didn't care what year it actually was or if the apocalypse started tomorrow - it was their home, and they were all still in their adult bodies, and look, even Ben was still not dead.

It was a victory in their favor. The first in a while and they planned on savoring it.

Klaus was the first to break free of the silent, introspective circle, shuffling around the bench and crawling onto the couch where he passed out almost immediately. The others watched but didn't really move, their brains muddled and drowsy.

Heels clicking against the marble floor echoed in the hallway until Grace suddenly appeared. Beautiful, classy, always gentle, always pleasant and loving - Grace. Diego almost cried right then and there but somehow managed to choke it down.

"Good morning, children," she said, surprised with a bright smile. "Ben, it's so good to see you. And Five, I do hope you stick around for dinner." Her charming voice held true sentiment despite her programming.

"Hey mom," Diego managed to greet through a tight throat.

"You children look dreadful," she empathized. "Why don't you clean up and I'll make you some sandwiches?"

Diego swallowed down the lump, "That'd be great, mom, thanks."

A series of soft thanks mom drifted through the room as Grace headed downstairs leaving them alone once more.

After another silent moment, Five sighed and stiffly made his way behind the bar. He loaded up his arms with bottles of fancy liquor and then promptly distributed them to his siblings, all but Klaus who was oblivious to everything at that point. Almost as if in tuned to the same thought, they each took a spot on a couch, lounge chair or on pillows on the floor and made themselves comfortable, silently taking draws on their bottles and following their brother into oblivion.

Whatever the next day brought, they'd face it together.

As a family.

The End...or The Beginning


End file.
